


Cold Feet

by theboybismark



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gwen-centric, Gwom - Freeform, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Past Child Abuse, Weddings, dadvid, gwen is trans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 09:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12208068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theboybismark/pseuds/theboybismark
Summary: Gwen shook her head, trying to clear her mind enough to at least stand. She wished her parents had shown up, wished her dad would be here to walk her down the damn aisle on her big day, probably the biggest day of her life. She said that she wouldn't let this bother her. She said she wouldn't, but it is. Talk about pathetic. She couldn't even stop being so pathetic on her wedding day, couldn't stop failing on the one day she was supposed to be happy.





	Cold Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks for reading this unabashed excuse to reuse scenes from Love/Sick and the office :p

The bride is shaking. Her skin feels feverishly warm and clammy as she worries the edge of her veil between dark fingers, the pastel green contrasting beautifully with manicured nails, a rarity for the woman. Both Gwen and David had decided that white was far too plain for a wedding _,_ and opted for a refreshing mint green, the soft color calming the for camp-counselor, though that didn't manage to stop her nervous pacing.

Gwen shook her head, trying to clear her mind enough to at least stand. She wished her parents had shown up, wished her dad would be here to walk her down the damn aisle on her big day, probably the biggest day of her life. She said that she wouldn't let this bother her. She said she wouldn't, but it _is._ Talk about pathetic. She couldn't even stop being so pathetic on her wedding day, couldn't stop _failing_ on the one day she was supposed to be happy.

Everything had been better than her average 'fine' the last six months, ever since her dumb redheaded boyfriend finally got the courage to pop the question. Yeah, they'd only been dating for three years, but never had Gwen ever said 'yes' to something so quickly before. In the moment, it had felt right. Now, she's not so sure.

Isn't this what they called 'cold feet,' not wanting to go through with a wedding? What if this was... that? The thought of not going through with this made Gwen feel queasier than the thought of actually going through with it, and soon she was making her way to the wastebasket, tripping over the train of her dress and heaving, only she wasn't heaving up much except water. She hadn't eaten in two days, because what if she didn't fit into her dress?

What if she wasn't pretty enough, and David took one look at her, disgust lining his mostly happy features, and just... left her at the altar? Dumped her in front of everybody?   Her shaking hands gripped at the side of the trashcan and she let herself collapse to her knees, muscles tensed and eyes closed. She was such a failure, she couldn't even be on time to her own wedding.

"...Gwen?" Immediately, the named party looked up, purple eyes wild and large, pupils dilated from shock and glazed from tears. In the door frame of the old backroom of the chapel stood David. His hair, normally perfectly kept in a sort of quaff, was disheveled, strands flying this way and that as he raked his fingers through it once more. He looked a little bedraggled; his tie was a little crooked, and the little handkerchief and flowers in his suit pocket were a little in disarray-- Some of the petals were missing.  He looked a mess.

"Gwen..." He repeated, stepping forwards and at once,  his fiance struggled to stand using her arms to push herself up into some sort of standing position. She knew she looked a mess, and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the moment when David would tell her how disgusting she looked, how he wished they had never met.

For a while, nothing happened. She could hear her heart's frenzied beating in her head, and over it, the sound of soft footfalls made loud by smart dress-shoes. She pried her hands from the can to cover her face, shrinking away. The sound of clacking stopped abruptly, and a presence replaced it. A soft, warm presence, like a fireplace, cracking with energy but yet muted all at once. A fire that wouldn't burn you.

When Gwen first met David, his energy scared her. He was warm, yes, a warmth Gwen soon realized she needed, but back then, she didn't realize how much softness was contained in that zeal, that he wasn't all hard edges and angles. Even now, it's hard for her to grasp the concept of such a man. He just couldn't be real.

That presence had grown to calm her, and without thinking about it, she leaned forwards, knowing he was right there, falling against his chest as she was prone to do on bad days. She felt him exhale, felt his arm wrap around her waist, and she tried to convince herself she felt love in the embrace. He did love her; he wouldn't propose to her if he didn't love her, right?

Slowly, she opened her eyes, pushing away from David softly and standing up fully. She shrugged him off, smiling a bit at the lingering of his hand on her waist.

"Is something-"  Gwen shook her head vigorously, cutting him off. Her eyes focused on the floor, instead of his face.

"Nothing." The wavering quality of her voice gave away her lie, and her hands went back to her veil. "You're not supposed to see the bride until the _wedding_ part, you know." She tried for a smile that looked so much like a grimace that David took another concerned step forwards.

"I don't care about superstition, I care about you. Are you... having, you know, second thoughts?" His tone wasn't judging, or even a little angry at her. Gwen began to fret again, that little pesky voice wondering if he wasn't mad because he didn't want to marry her. What if she was just so _pathetic_ that he felt obligated to? She should just cut this off right now, save him the trouble.

"I... Yes." She tried to make her tone firm as she continued,"David. I." She cleared her throat, tried to start up again, "I can't... we need to..." She looked down, fidgeting with her engagement ring. It was a beautiful silver, set with a dull purple topaz. A little cheap, but _beautiful._ Gwen couldn't help but stare at it whenever she was idle or nervous. Tears began to cloud her vision.

"You shouldn't feel obligated to be with someone like me," She blurted, a nervous giggle erupting from within her as she took a small step back. She felt lightheaded as she continued, "I mean, I know I'm not pretty, or smart, and we don't have all of the same interests, and- You're only staying with me because, because..." She trailed off, her breaths coming out in small puffs as she ran out of steam.

She still couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. David was taken aback; he had little idea of what to say or do to make his fiance feel better, but he could start with the obvious. "I think you're pretty and smart. Gosh, Gwen, whenever I _look_ at you, I feel like the luckiest man alive. I don't think I could ever _not_ find you pretty-"

"You don't know, but you will. Jesus, David, I've only been living with you and Max for half a year. Six months isn't enough time to hate me,  but six years? Shit, I wouldn't be surprised if you filed for divorce in half that time! _No one_ could want me around for that long! If my _parents_ didn't want me around, how could _this_ last? What sort of _chance_ do we have You don't want to be saddled with such a fucking _disaster!"_ Her hands tugged at her veil, ripping the gossamer fabric into two and tearing it away from her head. She flung it onto the floor, angry tears beginning to spring from her eyes as if someone had turned on a faucet, she sniffled angrily, trying to save face by wiping her eyes and nose with her hand.

David's stomach turned with feelings, anger being a strong presence among them, and scooped up the torn pieces of fabric in his hands, before taking out the small, decorative kerchief in his pocket and moving towards Gwen, gently pushing her hand from her face and dabbing at her eyes with the cloth. At first, she tried to push him away, sniffling and whimpering that she was fine. Her fiance just shushed her, one of his hands reaching up to support her by the back of the head, as he usually did when she was upset and in need of comfort.

His fingers rubbed her scalp, giving a sort of gentle massage as her sobs began to subside. She was shaking a lot, more than she usually was when having a panic attack, and her skin was a desaturated, ashen version of its normal tone. She looked ill. David blinked, as if remembering something, and his expression grew more concerned.

"Gwen, when's the last time you've eaten?" He tangled his fingers in her hair lightly, combing through the immaculately made-up hairstyle, disheveling it a little bit.  Gwen shrugged halfheartedly, wishing she could hide her face in his chest again. She settled with looking down at the floor again. David couldn't stop himself from worrying, she looked so weak.

"Was it a day ago?" Gwen slowly shook her head, fiddling with her ring, twisting and turning it on her finger. David exhaled a slow sigh, brows furrowing with anxiety. "Oh, dear." He began to frown, balling the kerchief in his hand and dropping his arm.

"Your parents are idiots," He commented calmly, fingers playing with a curl of her hair as her crying was reduced to simple sniffling and puffy eyes. Surprised, Gwen looked up at him, and he made an attempt to smile, though his brow was still furrowed and his face was a little ruddy in his frustration.

"Seriously. If they can't see what a beautiful daughter they have, I wouldn't want them here anyway. You're intelligent; like, you have three degrees! It took me forever just to get the one I have, and you did it in half the time it took me."

"They're useless degrees, David," Gwen tried to protest, but when his hand moved from twirling around strands of hair to rubbing at the tense muscles of her back, they didn't feel useless. They felt...pretty important.

"Nope. Absolutely not. There are so many things you can be with three degrees." His voice was a mix of a hum and a mumble, and it was a comforting sound. "You can be so much. And if your parents aren't willing to help you get there, then they're... ignorant. And you are too brilliant for ignorance." Again, Gwen looked at him, incredulity lining her features.

"...I've never heard you talk bad about my parents before." Even if they'd never once made an attempt to communicate with their daughter in the five years David had known her. Even on birthdays and holidays, when Gwen thought her brave face would fall, he never uttered one word of ill intent. Hell, even when Gwen had meltdowns in the bathroom over her body, on how her parents thought her form was disgusting, he remained cool and never said a bad word against them.

"I'm just sick of them making you feel terrible. I would say sorry, but... I'm not. They must be really bad people. I just... I wish I could erase all the hurt and bad memories and replace it with something good. And... If you feel like marriage isn't the best way to do that, okay. We don't have to get married now, or ever, if that's what you want." He pressed the veil's headpiece into her hand, along with the kerchief. "We don't have to marry to make more memories."

Gwen looked down at the veil, then back fro at David. "But... I ruined it-" David cut her off.

"You didn't ruin anything, Gwen. See?" He folded up the other piece of the veil and gently tucked it where the handkerchief used to go, displacing one of the flowers and sending it to the ground. He picked it up, burying the short stem in Gwen's hair so that just the flower was visible.

"See? Good as new." Gwen didn't exactly feel good as new, but she puts the veil back on her head and steeled her nerves. "Okay." She moved towards David again, resting on his chest again, feeling a bit better than she did before, though her eyes felt raw and watery still.

David hummed lightly, wrapping an arm around her and hugging her lightly. "Hey. Remember when you wanted the wedding to be in winter?" Gwen snorted and nodded, nuzzling into him and frizzing up her hair a little bit. She thought it would've been so cool.

"Mhm. And then Summer, and then Autumn. And then- now, Spring." David smiled softly, happy that he had got her to smile just a little bit, even at something so stupid and trivial as changing the date of a wedding.

Acting on impulse, she tilted her head up the slightest bit and pressed her lips to the side of David's mouth, causing him to hum happily, responding to her chaste kiss with one of his own. She grabbed his tie with both hands and yanked in different directions, effectively tearing the light green material, leaving the tie in an odd, squared off and frayed shape. She let the piece fall to the floor and stepped back, allowing herself a rare grin.

"Good as new," She mused softly and grabbed onto his hand.

"Okay. Let's go get fucking married, David." And instead of the chastising _language!_ As she expected, she got a grin in return.

"Okay, Gwen."

The wedding was beautiful. The stained glass windows of the small church had cast beautiful multicolored light onto the procession. Gwen and David had been bathed in gorgeous rainbow mosaic as they said their vows. Gwen kept her relatively short, while David started waxing poetic about his love, about how all the flora and fauna in all of the campsites he had ever visited could never amount to waking up and seeing Gwen, at home or in a tent or after getting hit in the back of the head with a shovel by Nikki (pointed glare at the pews). By the time they actually kissed, Gwen's' face was damp with tears.

The reception was held outside. David slung off his suit coat and draped it over his wife's shoulders, to keep her protected from the chilled early April air. She smiled and for once in her life, felt truly beautiful.

"Hey, mom!  Did you see? I got to be the flower girl!" Nerris, in a simple floral dress, beamed, speaking all-too-loudly as her mother chuckled tiredly.

"Uhm, me too? Nerris, you used _my_ hat." Harrison's retort was met with a  face full of tulip petals.

"Hey. Max." Nikki started, only to be met with a sigh of acknowledgment from Max, who was currently tapping his fork on the table in time to the cheesy love song currently playing over shitty chapel speakers. The newlyweds were swaying. They really couldn't fucking dance, though they tried.

"...Is Gwen like, your mom now?-"

"Oh my God, Nikki, stop talking." Max put his head down as Neil snorted into his 3DS two seats away.

"Gwen's my mom as much as David's my dad, which is not at fucking all. Jesus, get ahold of yourselves!" He leaned back in his seat, still the perfect image of stoicism, until David called out.

"Max! C'mon,  family dance! I'll let you pick the hopefully PG song!" Gwen rested her head on his shoulder.

"Alright, alright, I'm _coming,_ Dad-" Neil and Nikki exchanged looks and burst out into barely concealed snorts.

"Oh, fuck _off!"_ He shot them both a death glare, bright eyes narrowing as he went off to join his makeshift nuclear family, flicking the two off as he went.


End file.
